Apparatus for coating tin plates



(No' Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

T. DAVIES. APPARATUS FOR COATING TIN PLATES.

No. 478,051. Patented June 28, 1892.

-2 SheetsSheet 2.

(N0 Model.)

A. 'T DAVIES. A APPARATUS FOR COATING TIN PLATES.

Patent ed June 28; 1892 s Q i N Q/SAh wooao UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT THOMAS DAVIES, OF MORRISTON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR COATING .TIN PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,051, dated June 28,1892.

App ion fi flllfl'uly 4, 1891- Serial No. 400,649. (No model.) Patentedin England February 22, 1886, No. 2.660; in France November 23,1886,1To.1'79,835; in Belgium November 23, 1886, No. 75,345, and inGermany November 24,1886,N- 39,483.

, VIES, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain,

and a resident of Morriston, in the county of Glamorgan, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Mannfacture of Tinand other Coated Metal Plates and Apparatus Employed Therein, (patentedin Great Britain February 22, 1886, No. 2,560; in France November 23,1886, No. 179,835; in Belgium November 23, 1886, No. 75,345, and inGermany November 24, 1886, No. 39,483,) of which the following is aspecification.

The object of the invention is to improve the manufacture of plates ofmetal coated with tin, terne, or other similar alloy or substanceemployed as the coating material or as the covering matter, to economizesuch material and prevent waste in manufacture, and to enable thesuccessive steps in the operation to be effected with greater celerityand certainty of excellence in results attained by means of improvedapparatus employed in such manufacture.

In carrying the invention into effect and in order to attain the desiredend so specified my invention consists in the construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter first fully described, and then pointedout in claims.

In the drawings which form a part of this specification, Figure 1represents in section aside view of the tinning-pot. Fig. 2 isacross-sectional view, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section, of a modifiedform of pot constructed according to my invention. 'Fig. 4 is a sideelevation, partly in section; and Fig. 5 a longitudinal section of theconstruction by which my feed-rolls are pressed together.

Like letters of reference, wherever they oc cur, indicate correspondingparts in the figures.

I will first give a general description of my invention and then adetailed explanation of the'same. I pass the sheets to be coated througha chamber containing flux or other suitable substance that willbeneficially act upon the sheet before it is passed into the alloy, andthis may be efiected by causing the sheet to enter the chamber at anoblique angle between a pair or successive pairs of rollers or through achute, guide, or hopper, or a combination of the two, and so into thebody of the molten terne, tin, or other metal, matter, or alloy adaptedto coat the sheets. The sheets pass to the bodyof this bath and into acradle or onto a suitable platform or support therein contained, whichcarrier or cradle is so balanced in the bath that it will under thepressure of the incoming plate be pressed downward when acted upon bythese rollers. I lach sheet as it is successively entered andimmediately it leaves the rollers is raised out again therefrom by'meansof this cradle or supporting means, the sheet being thrown forwardautomatically by balanced fingers and delivered to another pair ofrollers, which may conveniently be arranged horizontally and submergedin the molten matter in the bath, and these rollers either alone oraided by guide-bars serve to guide the plates upward to a chambersituated above the bath of molten matter, which chamber or vesselcontains a substance such as grease, tallow, palm-oil, or other suitablelubricating and protective material, and also a pair or successive pairsof rollers, which rollers serve to equalize and remove superfluity ofapplied coating material and pass the plates successivelyoutofthegreasy. material to be further treated by dipping or further coating ina bath of molten tin, terne, or coating material, if desired.

The shape or construction of the tinningpot I employ is by itsconstricted or contracted form adapted to confine the molten metal tothe least possible space consistent with a sufficient body of moltenmetal, and at the side of the pot are secured guides, which serve tocontrol the motion of the cradle for' lifting the plates. Thelifting-cradle, which may be of wrought-iron or other'suitable material,is adapted in form to receive and convey the successive plates to therollers next to operate on each plate, aidedby the said guides or bars.

One arrangement which I find convenient consists of a tinning-pot havingits lower sides substantiallyparallel, and,while of about the width ofthe plates, yet of shallow depth from front to back, with its upper partin-' 100 clined outward toward the front, so as to admit of a set ofrollers, in pairs, being arranged, as already described, for supply ofplates to and other sets for deliveryof plates from the tinnin g matter,in order to pass them to the greasing pot or vessel, and a convenientnumber of sets of such rollers are fouror five pairs, two pairs on thesupply side and two pairs on the greasing-vessel, while the fourth orfifth pair, which are banded, is at the point where the plates divergefrom the course of entry to the course of exit and may be arranged sothat a central. roller does double duty, alternately forming one of theinner pair of entering rollers and then of the inner pair ofdelivering-rollers, and this central roller may with advantage begrooved in a longitudinal direction. The upper rollers of the supplypairs are acted upon by parts (preferably under the influence of aspring or springs) borne upon by a lever or levers, which can beadjusted as to the pressure exertedsay by screw-pressurc-and the effectof such pressure on the rollers is to give the desired nip. Thelongitudinal grooves guide the plate into proper position in the pot.The

adjusting screw-nut referred to may be sub.

stituted by or supplemented by spring-press ure. The proper relativemotions to the parts are obtained by suitable gearing. Finger-leverssuitably pivoted and balanced serve to give inclination to thesuccessive plates to cause them after entrance to present them-- selvescorrectly to the exit-rollers on the ris-y ing of the cradle. The platesfrom the previous operation pass to a pot B, Fig. 2, in which is placedmolten material, and thence to a chamber C, containing grease, tallow,palm-oil or other suitable covering, coating, or finishing matter, inwhich the parts may be so arranged or duplicated that two coated sheetscan be alternately lowered and raised therein by means of two cradles orsupports, the action of which is the same as in the tinningpot.

Referring again to the drawings, it will be seen that the lower sidewalls a a of my tinning-pot are substantially parallel and of about thewidth of the plates, but of shallow depth from front to back-tl 6., froma to a the upper part a inclining to the front to accommodate therollers Z) Z) for supplying the plates passed-in by the chute or guidea, which may contain any suitable flux and which is located in thechamber A, to the bathB below. The plates pass down this guide 0 betweenthe rollers Z) Z) into the carrier or cradle d between guide bars d,also serving as guides to the lower portion of the carrier or cradle d,which is adapted to work up and down upon the same. The cradle or holderd, located in the pot B, containing the molten tin, is operated by meansof a counterweighted lever (having a center or rocking bearing (1 Fig.2, and two arms d (1 the arm 61 being jointed to d at d and the arm dcarrying the weight d and serves to raise the plate dropped into it assoon as ever it is released from the entering rollers Z) Z), and thisrising of the holder d brings the plate up to the rollsf Z), the fingerlever or levers e aidingthe operation by pressing the plate into adirect line with these rolls f Z), the swing finger or lever c beingcentered at e and weighted at e on its shorter arm 6 so that on therising of the carrier d by means of counter-weight or equivalent means(or it may be by hand-lever) the plate therein will be raised anddelivered to the rollers f Z) and by them be passed between the guides gg to the rollers 7L h, and thence to other rollers '1: 1; in the chamberC which conta ns grease, tallow, or other suitable lubricatlng andprotective material.

The framing of the apparatus a may be of wrought-iron, cast-iron, orother suitable naterial provided with recesses or openings, into whichare fitted l'.)lock-bearings 7a to carry the rollers, arranged as shown,and above 1s a spring-lever a acting upon the rollers Z1, h and '11 1'through the springs (0, then aspring a", which acts on two pegs a a,which peg a again acts on the bearing-blocks 71; of the rollersf and Z)and Z) by means of the spr ng a, bearing on the end of the roll Z),working on each side in a block 7a, and serves to tighten the rollers.The springs a a can be adjusted by a screw-nut of as to the pressureexerted, and the effect of such pressure on the rollers is to give therequired nip. The roll Z) may be provided with longitudinal grooves, asshown in Fig. 2, for the purpose of gripping and raising each successiveplate to its vertical position. Spiral or similar springs may, ifdesired, be interposed be tween the pressing parts and theroller-bearings or be applied to the lever below the adjustingmut of.

Motion to the parts is conveyed from the upper driver 1 and 1 through anintermediate'wheel 2 to another driver 3, secured to the upper roll,and, as shown, this driver 1 on the upper roll gears into anotherdriver'l' on the axis of the roll next below it, and like motion to theother rollers by an other driver 3, the whole being provided withtooth-gearing. (Indicated by dotted lines.) The roller Z), acting asshown, acts in common with both the roller Z) and f; but as the sheetinentering comes in contact with one side of the roller Z) the directionof motion impart-ed is inward or downward, while when pressed by thebalanced finger 6 into contact with its other side and the roller f thedirection of motion is outward or upward, thus enabling the roller Z) todo double duty. From the upper chamber O the plates are passed out tothe workman, who takes them into a modified form of my invention,which Idesignate as a greasepot, (shown in Figs. 2 and 3,) which consists of alower chamber adapted and arranged to contain molten metal or otherdesired material and provided with rollers Z), Z), f, h, and 2', and theoperation of the parts of which is IIO substantially similar to that ofthe tinningpot, Fig. 1, excepting that the fingers e are duplicated andthe cradle 61 so arranged that two sheets can be lowered and raisedtherein at a time and thereby coated with the lubricatin g or protectivematerial or other coating.

I claim- 1. In an apparatus for coating and finishing tin and terneplates at one operation, the combination of a vertical pot for themolten coating metal, a flux-box located above thetinning-pot,feedingrolls located above a cra- (He, said counterbalancedcradle immersed in the pot and adapted to be depressed by the impact ofthe incoming plate and to be automatically elevated again, a pivotedweighted arm constructed and arranged to transfer the plate to thedelivery-rolls, a superimposed chamber, and delivery-rolls, one of whichis provided with longitudinal grooves located therein, and means fordriving the said rolls.

2. In an apparatus for coating and finishing tin and terne plates at oneoperation,the

combination of a vertical pot for the molten coating metal,acounterbalanced cradle adapted to be depressed by the impact of theincoming plate and to be automatically elevated'again, a weighted armconstructed and arranged to transfer the plate tothe deliveryrolls,three longitudinal friction-rolls located above the cradle, one providedwith a grooved surface, two of which form receiving-rolls and two ofwhich serve as delivery-rolls, and an adjustable springarm constructedand arranged to keep the central roll engaged with each of. the outerones, and means for driving said rolls.

In testimony of the foregoing specification I do hereby sign the same,in the city of New York, county and State of New York, this 15th 40 dayof July, A. D. 1891.

' ALBERT THOMAS DAVIES.

Witnesses:

J. ODELL FOWLER, J.r., WM. M. V. FOWLER.

